Savvy shoppers focus on strategy for Black Friday

Web circulars, earlier hours boost options

The impatient shopper can get an earlier jump than ever this holiday season, as Black Friday continues to creep into Thursday. If even that's too long to wait, folks can flick on their computers and shop while the Thanksgiving turkey defrosts.

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By James Walsh

recordonline.com

By James Walsh

Posted Nov. 19, 2012 at 2:00 AM
Updated Nov 19, 2012 at 12:09 PM

By James Walsh

Posted Nov. 19, 2012 at 2:00 AM
Updated Nov 19, 2012 at 12:09 PM

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Visit recordonline.com/blackfriday for live coverage of the shopping madness. Send in your photos, Tweet us your observations @recordonline with hashtag #hvblackfriday, or visit facebook.com/record...

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Visit recordonline.com/blackfriday for live coverage of the shopping madness. Send in your photos, Tweet us your observations @recordonline with hashtag #hvblackfriday, or visit facebook.com/recordonline to share your thoughts.

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The impatient shopper can get an earlier jump than ever this holiday season, as Black Friday continues to creep into Thursday. If even that's too long to wait, folks can flick on their computers and shop while the Thanksgiving turkey defrosts.

Walmart leads the way with national 8 p.m. store openings Thanksgiving. Target's not far behind. Their doors swing open at 9 Thanksgiving night, a time formerly reserved for quiet moments with a bottle of Pepto-Bismol.

Both the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston and the Galleria at Crystal Run in the Town of Wallkill open their doors at midnight Friday. The Newburgh Mall opens at 6 a.m. Friday.

In Walden, much of the Thruway Shopping Plaza will close for Thanksgiving and observe regular business hours on other days.

"When we have a sale for a week, that means we have plenty of stuff, and you don't have to rush out," said Bruce Concors, president of Thruway Sporting Goods and vice president of Thruway Liquor, Inc.

Gone are the days when shoppers needed the keenest of eyes to scan sales floors for the best bargains of the year. Internet sites like blackfriday.com showcase advertising circulars more than a week ahead of the big day.

That means savvy shoppers can plot store-to-store buying sprees at their leisure, drawing up lists and checking them twice — in the spirit of the season — before heading out to shop.

The top three holiday sale categories are likely to be gift cards, apparel and toys and games, according to a survey released last week by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.

The survey also showed 19 percent of consumers intend to spend more than last year, and 5 percent plan to spend substantially more. Those are the biggest increases since the council began asking that question in 2004.

Main Street merchants in the region have holiday events planned to draw shoppers downtown.

In Warwick, for example, there are horse-and-buggy rides Dec. 1, 2, 9, 15, and 16, starting at the Railroad Green. A gingerbread-house contest begins Dec. 1 at TD Bank in Warwick, with a winner to be picked Dec. 22.

The village of Woodstock has its 31st annual Holiday Open House from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 7. Activities include Christmas caroling, raffles and sampling sweet treats.

Despite national unemployment at close to 8 percent and the continuing doldrums of the real estate market, the National Retail Foundation predicts holiday sales will increase 4.1 percent this year to $586 billion.

That forecast outshines the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent and is the foundation's most optimistic view since the recession.

Retailers are uncertain about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the shopping season.

New York and New Jersey, where some of the worst damage occurred, represents 8 percent of the national retail sales market, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

There could be less money to spend, or holiday money might go to replace necessities lost during the storm. That leaves retailers unable to predict Sandy's reach into their cash registers.

"Hurricane Sandy is a wild card," said Rebecca Flach, spokeswoman for the Retail Council of New York State. "It's likely people will take money they would have used for holiday wares and use it for home improvements. We expect it will be spent one way or another."

The council shies away from predicting sales because of day-to-day uncertainties.

"We don't know what people are going to do because of the hurricane," Flach said, "or if there will be snowstorms over the next few weeks."

She said, though, that shipment schedules continue to suffer in the wake of the storm.

"If there's a must-have gift that they see on the shelf, they should buy it," Flach suggests, "because we don't know if it will be back in stock."